Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry which featured in many cuisines of the former Muslim Ottoman, Arab World and Iranian countries. It is a pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is of Central Asian Turkic origin, with its current form being developed in the imperial kitchens of the Ottoman Muslim Topkapı Palace in Turkey.
The thin phyllo dough as used today was also probably developed in Topkapi Palce kitchens. The Ottoman sultan presented trays of baklava to Janissary soldiers every 15th of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called Baklava Alayı. The word baklava entered English from Turkish.
